Photonics Dictionary

A system in which the electrical signal embedded within an audio input signal is converted to a modulated light pattern and recorded on film.

The photographic recording of the heat radiation emitted from various points on the object as corresponding density variations on fast infrared film.

A camera equipped with angular scales in altitude and azimuth. The scale readings are imprinted on the film when an exposure is made. The exact point indicated by the scale readings is shown by...

A photovoltaic cell usually sensitive to infrared radiation. It may have a copper base and a film of cuprous oxide. When it is irradiated, voltage is produced.

A structure consisting of a thin film of liquid crystal sandwiched between light-polarizing filters that have received a surface lubricant. Depending on motion, the transducer acts as a highly...

A lensless photographic camera that uses a small sharp-edged hole as its aperture. The light passed by this aperture onto the camera's film plane produces a soft-edged image that has a wide field of...

A device used in the sputtering of thin films, in which a magnet system on the back of the cathode deflects the electrons, lengthening the ionization path. The accelerated ions transfer their...

Plasmon ion-assisted deposition (PIAD) is a technique used in thin-film deposition processes, particularly in the production of optical coatings. This method combines two key processes: plasmon...

The process of aligning the crystallites in a piezoelectric material by placing a large DC field across the element at an elevated temperature. The alignment of crystallites results in an increased...

A camera system that uses a fine powder to diffract x-rays from the specimen. A beam of monochromatic x-rays passes through a collimator onto the specimen. Diffracted x-rays are recorded on the film...

An instrument that measures the angle at which a prism can couple laser light into an optical waveguide; used to determine the thickness and refractive index of thin films in integrated optical...

A photographic camera designed to produce reproduction film of visual information (pictures, line drawings, graphs) for printing purposes.

A film applied to a coated or uncoated optical surface primarily for protecting this surface from mechanical abrasion, from chemical corrosion, or from both. For example, a thin layer of silicon...

A device with a limited number of possible output values (sometimes able to be selected) that can translate an incoming signal into these values or codes for outputting. See pulse code modulation. In...

Reactive evaporation refers to a process in thin-film deposition where a material is deposited onto a substrate through evaporation, and chemical reactions take place during or after the evaporation...

A reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) is a key component in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical communication networks. It allows for flexible and dynamic routing of...

A type of camera that incorporates a tiny mirror that oscillates in accordance with incoming signals. An illuminated slit is imaged by this tiny mirror on a moving ribbon of sensitized paper or film,...

The thin, transparent film made up of specific substances applied to glass-air surfaces for the purpose of decreasing the amount of reflected light.

Thin-film coating, single or multilayer, that is applied to a substrate to increase its reflectance over a specified range of wavelengths. Metal film, transparent or opaque, is the oldest form of...

Loss mechanisms that degrade the performance of all thin-film optical devices by removing radiant flux out of the specular beams.

A measurement in optical thin-film coating processes whereby the gases remaining in the vacuum chamber after coating are characterized by mass spectroscopy.

A crucible made of electrically resistive material through which a current is passed to heat the material inside, which then evaporates and is deposited as a thin film on a substrate. Resistance...

A reticle, also known as a reticule or graticule, is a pattern or set of markings placed in the focal plane of an optical instrument, such as a microscope, telescope, riflescope, or camera, to...

A special-purpose camera used by ophthalmologists to photograph the retina of the eye. The optical system operates through the eye pupil, and the illuminant must be able to send light into the eye...

Rolling shutter artifacts are distortions or visual anomalies that can occur in images or videos captured by cameras with rolling shutter sensors. A rolling shutter is a type of image sensor that...

A camera system used for microphotography that has a structure, such as a cylinder or surveyor belt, to rotate the documents to be recorded. The image is fixed relative to film motion and exposure is...

A camera, with a rotating prism, that is capable of forming multiple exposures on a constantly moving strip of film.

Filtered light to which photographic or other photosensitive materials are not responsive; used to illuminate darkrooms when film is being processed. The color of the filter varies according to the...

Sapphire refers to a crystalline form of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) that is used in various optical and photonic applications due to its exceptional optical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Sapphire...

An instrument for determining the sensitivity of a photographic film to light. The film is given either a stepped exposure or a continuously varied exposure; after processing, the density is measured...

Primarily the measurement of photographic sensitivity of certain materials such as photographic film. It refers to the measurement of the response of photographic materials, after exposure, to forms...

A type of motion-picture camera in which single frames are photographed either automatically at a predetermined rate (as slow as one frame per minute or hour), or whenever the operator presses a key....

A compact high-pressure light source in which an electrical discharge between electrodes spaced no more than 12 mm apart occurs in a xenon or other gas medium, providing a visible light resembling a...

A model that predicts laser-induced damage to thin films caused by irradiation of identical, randomly distributed film defects.

A gelatinous fluid that can be used as a porous thin-film coating for optical components, including laser beam collimators, or as a protective coating for glass and crystalline materials.

With respect to color photography, the measurement, at a given wavelength, of the way the color film modulates the radiant flux in the optical system containing the film.

Spectra can be conveniently recorded on photographic film or plates. The portions that are occupied by regions of the recorded developed images on the film or plate can be determined with some...

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a prism or a diffraction grating. A concave grating requires no other means...

A kind of spectrograph in which some form of detector, other than a photographic film, is used to measure the distribution of radiation in a particular wavelength region.

Sputtering equipment is machinery used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering. Sputtering is a method of depositing thin films of material onto a substrate surface...

A sputtering target is a solid material used in the process of physical vapor deposition (PVD), specifically sputtering. Sputtering targets are typically made of metals, metal alloys, or compounds...

A type of camera that has scales or other arrangements by which successive exposures can be lined up and equally spaced on a sheet of film. It is used in the preparation of microfiche copies of...

A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various fields, such as electronics, biology, chemistry, and manufacturing, the term...

An imaging technique in which an object moving through an interference field formed in space scatters light and is spatially recorded on a photographic film as a hologram. If the interference field...

The color process that is used to form positive color cine films by dye transfer or imbibition, based on the use of separate matrices that superimpose yellow, magenta and cyan dye images on the final...